wholly unobserved, while the mythologists have confined their attention
to the later presentation in Bragarædur, which cannot be reconciled with
the earlier accounts, and which from a mythological standpoint is worse
than worthless. In 1877 justice was for the first time done to Havamál in
the excellent analysis of the strophes in question made by Prof. M. B.
Richert, in his "Attempts at explaining the obscure passages not hitherto
understood in the poetic Edda."
From Havamál alone we get directly or indirectly the following:
The giant Suttung, also called Fjalar, has acquired possession of the
precious mead for which Odin longs. The Asa-father resolves to capture it
by cunning.
There is a feast at Fjalar's. Guests belonging to the clan of rimthurses
are gathered in his halls (Havamál, 110). Besides these we must imagine
that Suttung-Fjalar's own nearest kith and kin are present. The mythology
speaks of a separate clan entirely distinct from the rimthurses, known as
_Suttungs Synir_ (Alvismal, Skirnersmal; see No. 78), whose chief must
be Suttung-Fjalar, as his very name indicates. The Suttung kin and the
rimthurses are accordingly gathered at the banquet on the day in question.
An honoured guest is expected, and a golden high-seat prepared for him
awaits his arrival. From the continuation of the story we learn that the
expected guest is the wooer or betrothed of Suttung-Fjalar's daughter,
Gunlad. On that night the wedding of the giant's daughter is to be
celebrated.
Odin arrives, but in disguise. He is received as the guest of honour, and
is conducted to the golden high-seat. It follows of necessity that the
guise assumed by Odin, when he descends to the mortal foes of the gods
and of himself, is that of the expected lover. Who the latter was Havamál
does not state, unless strophe 110, 5, like so many other passages, is
purposely ambiguous and contains his name, a question which I shall
consider later.
After the adventure has ended happily, Odin looks back with pleasure
upon the success with which he assumed the guise of the stranger and
played his part (str. 107). _el keyptz litar hefi ec vel notith_: "From
the well changed exterior I reaped great advantage." In regard to the
mythological meaning of _litr_, see No. 95: The expression _keyptr litr_,
which literally means "purchased appearance," may seem strange, but
_kaupa_ means not only to "buy," but also to "change," "exchange;" _kaupa
klædum vid einn_ means "to change clothes with some one." Of a queen who
exchanged her son with a slave woman, it is said that she _keyptr um sonu
vid ambátt_. But the cause of Odin's joy is not that he successfully
carried out a cunning trick, but that he in this way accomplished a deed
of inestimable value for Asgard and for man (str., 107, 4-6), and he is
sorry that poor Gunlad's trust in him was betrayed (str. 105). This is a
characterisation of Odin's personality.
Nor does Havamál tell us what hinders the real lover from putting in his
appearance and thwarting Odin's plan, while the latter is acting his
part; but of this we learn something from another source, which we shall
consider below.
The adventure undertaken by Odin is extremely dangerous, and he ran the
risk of losing his head (str. 106, 6). For this reason he has, before
entering Suttung-Fjalar's halls, secured an egress, through which he
must be able to fly, and if possible, with the skaldic mead as his
booty. There is no admittance for everybody to the rocky abode where the
mead-treasure so much desired by all powers is kept. The dwelling is, as
Eyvind tells us, situated in an abyss, and the door is, as another record
tells us, watched. But Odin has let Rate bore ("gnaw") a tunnel through
the mountain large enough to give him room to retire secretly (str. 106).
In regard to Rate, see No. 82.
When the pretended lover has seated himself in the golden high-seat, a
conversation begins around the banquet table. It is necessary for Odin to
guard well his words, for he represents another person, well known there,
and if he is not cautious he may be discovered. It is also necessary
to be eloquent and winning, so that he may charm Gunlad and secure her
devotion, for without her knowledge he cannot gain his end, that of
carrying away the supply of inspiration-mead kept at Suttung's. Odin also
boasts (str. 103, 104) that on this occasion he proved himself _minnigr_
and _málugr_ and _margfrodr_ and eloquent for the realisation of his plan.
During the progress of the feast the guest had his glass filled to his
honour with the precious mead he desired to obtain. "Gunlad gave me on
the golden seat the drink of the precious mead" (str. 105).
Then the marriage ceremony was performed, and on the holy ring Gunlad
took to Odin the oath of faithfulness (str. 110).
It would have been best for the Asa-father if the banquet had ended here,
and the bridegroom and the bride had been permitted to betake themselves
to the bridal chamber. But the jolly feast is continued and the horns
are frequently filled and emptied. Havamál does not state that the part
played by Odin required him to be continually drinking; but we shall show
that Gunlad's wooer was the champion drinker of all mythology, and in
the sagas he has many epithets referring to this quality. Odin became
on his own confession "drunk, very drunk, at Fjalar's." "The hern of
forgetfulness which steals one's wit and understanding hovers over his
drink" (str. 13, 15).
In this condition he let drop words which were not those of
caution--words which sowed the seed of suspicion in the minds of some of
his hearers who were less drunk. He dropped words which were not spelt
with letters of intelligence and good sense--words which did not suit the
part he was playing.
At last the banquet comes to an end, and the bridegroom is permitted to
be alone with the bride in that rocky hall which is their bed-chamber.
There is no doubt that Odin won Gunlad's heart, "the heart of that good
woman whom I took in my embrace" (str. 108). With her help he sees his
purpose attained and the mead in his possession. But the suspicions which
his reckless words had sown bear fruit in the night, and things happen
which Havamál does not give a full account of, but of a kind which would
have prevented Odin from getting out of the giant-gard, had he not had
Gunlad's assistance (str. 108). Odin was obliged to fight and rob Gunlad
of a kinsman (str. 110--_hann lèt grætta Gunnlödu_; see Rich., p. 17).
Taking the supply of mead with him, he takes flight by the way Rate had
opened for him--a dangerous way, for "above and below me were the paths
of the giants" (str. 106).
It seems to have been the custom that the wedding guests on the morning
of the next day went to the door of the bridal-chamber to hear how
the newly-married man was getting on in his new capacity of husband.
According to Havamál, Suttung's guests, the rimthurses, observe this
custom; but the events of the night change their inquires into the
question whether Odin had succeeded in escaping to the gods or had been
slain by Suttung (str. 109, 110).
Thus far Havamál. We must now examine Grimnersmal (150) and Ynglingatal
(15), whose connection with the myth concerning Odin's exploit in the
home of Suttung-Fjalar has not hitherto been noticed.
Odin says in Grimnersmal:
Svitharr oc Svithrir
er ec het at Sauccmimis
oc dultha ec thann inn aldna iotun,
tha er ec Mithvithnis varc
ins mæra burar
ordinn einbani.
"_Svidur and Svidrir_ I was called at Sokmimer's, and I presented myself
to the ancient giant, at the time when I alone became the slayer of
_Midvitnir's_ famous son."
Ynglingatal (15) reads:
En Dagskjarr
Durnis nidja
salvördudr
Svegdi velti,
tha er i stein
hinn stórgedi
Dulsa konr
ept dvergi hljóp,
ok sal bjartr
theirra Sökkmimis
jotunbyggdr
vid jofri gein.
"The day-shy hall-guard of _Durnir's_ descendants deceived _Svegdir_ when
he, the dauntless son of _Dulsi_, ran after the dwarf into the rock, and
when the shining giant-inhabited hall of _Sökkmimir's_ kinsmen yawned
against the chief." (In regard to _Dulsi_, see No. 83).
What attracts attention in a comparison of these two strophes is that the
epithet _Sökkmimir_ is common to both of them, while this name does not
occur elsewhere in the whole Old Norse literature.
In both the strophes _Sökkmimir_ is a giant. Grimnersmal calls him _inn
aldna iotun_, "the ancient giant," with which we may compare Odin's
words in Havamál (104): _enn aldna iotun ec sotta_, "the ancient giant I
sought," when he visited that giant-chief, to whose clan Suttung-Fjalar,
the possessor of the skald-mead, belonged.
In both the strophes the giant _Sökkmimir_ is the lord and chief of
those giants to whom, according to Grimnersmal, Odin comes, and outside
of whose hall-door, according to Ynglingatal, a certain _Svegdir_ is
deceived by the ward of the hall. This position of _Sökkmimir_ in
relation to his surroundings already appears, so far as Grimnersmal is
concerned, from the expression _at Sauccmimis_, which means not only
"with Sokmimer," but also "at Sokmimer's," that is to say, with that
group of kinsmen and in that abode where Sokmimer is chief and ruler. It
is with this giant-chief, and in his rocky hall, that _Midvitnir_ and
his son sojourns when Odin visits him, presents himself to him, and by
the name _Svidur_ (_Svidrir_) acts the part of another person, and in
this connection causes Midvitner's death. The same quality of Sokmimer
as clan-chief and lord appears in the Ynglingatal strophe, in the form
that the hall, outside of whose door Svegder was deceived, is _theirra
Sökkmimis_, that is to say, is the abode of Sokmimer's kinsmen and
household, "is their giant-home." Thus all the giants who dwell there
take their clan-name from Sokmimer.
The appellation _Sökkmimir_ is manifestly not a name in the strictest
sense, but one of the epithets by which this ancient giant-chief could be
recognised in connection with mythological circumstances. We shall point
out these mythological circumstances further on.
The Ynglingatal strophe gives us, in fact, another epithet for the same
mythic person. What the latter half of the strophe calls the hall of
Sokmimer's kinsmen and household, the former half of the same strophe
calls the hall of _Durnir's_ descendants. Thus Sokmimer and _Durnir_ are
the same person.
_Durnir_, on the other hand, is a variation of _Durinn_ (cp. the parallel
variations _Dvalnir_ and _Dvalinn_). Of _Durinn_ we already know (see
No. 53) that he is one of the ancient beings of mythology who in time's
morning, together with _Modsognir_-Mimer and in accordance with the
resolve of the high-holy powers, created clans of artists. One of the
artists created by Durin, and whose father he in this sense became, is,
according to Völuspa (11), _Mjödvitnir_. Rask and Egilsson have for
philological reasons assumed that _Midvitnir_ and _Mjödvitnir_ are
variations of the same name, and designate the same person (_mjödr_,
in the dative _midi_). It here appears that the facts confirm this
assumption. _Durinn_ and _Mjödvitnir_, in Völuspa correspond to _Durnir_
and _Midvitnir_ in the strophes concerning _Sökkmimir_.
_Mjödvitnir_ means the mead-wolf, he who captured the mead celebrated in
mythology. As Odin, having assumed the name of another, visits the abode
of the descendants of Durner-Sokmimer, he accordingly visits that rocky
home, where that giant dwells who has secured and possesses the mead
desired by Odin.
Ynglingatal reports, as we have seen, that a certain _Svegdir_ was
deceived, when he was outside of the door of the hall of the kinsmen of
Durner-Sokmimer. He who deceived him was the doorkeeper of the hall.
The door appeared to be already open, and the "giant-inhabited" hall
"yawned" festively illuminated (_bjartr_) toward Svegder. If we may
believe Ynglingatal's commentary on the strophe, the hall-ward had called
to him and said that Odin was inside. The strophe represents Svegder
as running after the hall-ward, that is to say, toward the door in the
rock, eager to get in. What afterwards happened Ynglingatal does not
state; but that Svegder did not gain the point he desired, but fell into
some snare laid by the doorkeeper, follows from the expression that he
was deceived by him, and that this caused his death follows from the
fact that the purpose of the strophe is to tell how his life ended.
Ynglingasaga says that he got into the rock, but never out of it. The
rest that this saga has to say of Svegder--that he was on a journey to
the old Asgard in "Tyrkland," to find "Odin the old," Gylfaginning's King
Priam--has nothing to do with the mythology and with Ynglingatal, but is
of course important in regard to the Euhemeristic hypothesis in regard
to the descent of the Asas from Tyrkland (Troy), on which the author of
Ynglingatal, like that of Gylfaginning, bases his work.
The variations _Svegdir_, _Svidgir_, and _Sveigdir_ are used
interchangeably in regard to the same person (cp. Ynglingatal, 14, 15;
Fornald., ii. 2; Fornm., i. 29; and Egilsson, 796, 801). _Svigdir_ seems
to be the oldest of these forms. The words means the great drinker
(Egilsson, 801). _Svigdir_ was one of the most popular heroes of
mythology (see the treatise on the "Ivalde race"), and was already in
heathen times regarded as a race-hero of the Swedes. In Ynglingatal (14)
Svithiod is called _geiri Svigdis_, "Svigdir's domain." At the same time,
_Svegdir_ is an epithet of Odin. But it should be borne in mind that
several of the names by which Odin is designated belong to him only in
a secondary and transferred sense, and he has assumed them on occasions
when he did not want to be recognised, and wanted to represent some one
else (cp. Grimnersm., 49) whose name he then assumed.
When Odin visits the abode of _Durinn-Sökkmimir_, where the precious mead
is preserved, he calls himself, according to Grimnersmal, _Svidurr_,
_Svidrir_. Now it is the case with this name as with _Svigdir_, that it
was connected with Svithiod. Skaldskaparmal (65) says that _Svithiod var
kallat af nafni Svidurs_, "Svithiod was named after the name of Svidur."
Hence (1) the name _Svidurr_, like _Svegdir-Svigdir_, belongs to Odin,
but only in a secondary sense, as one assumed or borrowed from another
person; (2) _Svidurr_, like _Svegdir-Svigdir_, was originally a mythic
person, whom tradition connected as a race hero with Svithiod.
From all this it appears that the names, facts, and the chain of
events connect partly the strophes of Grimnersmal and Ynglingatal with
each other, and partly both of these with Havamál's account of Odin's
adventure to secure the mead, and this connection furnishes indubitable
evidence that they concern the same episode in the mythological epic.
In the mythic fragments handed down to our time are found other epithets,
which like _Svigdir_, refer to some mythical person who played the
part of a champion drinker, and was connected with the myth concerning
mead and brewing. These epithets are _Ölvaldi_, _Ölmódr_, and _Sumbl
finnakonungr_, _Sumblus phinnorum rex_ in Saxo. _Sumbl_, as a common
noun, means ale, feast. In the "Finn-king" _Sumbl_ these ideas are
personified, just as the soma-drink in the Veda songs is personified
in King Soma. In my treatise on the Ivalde race, I shall revert to the
person who had these epithets, in order to make his mythological position
clear. Here I shall simply point out the following: Havamál (110) makes
one of the rimthurses, Suttung's guests, say:
Baugeith Odinn
hygg ec at unnit hafi;
hvat scal hans trygdom trua?
Suttung svikinn
han let sumbli fra
oc grætta Gunnlaudo.
The strophe makes the one who says this blame Odin for breaking the oath
he took on the ring, and thus showing himself unworthy of being trusted
in the promises and oaths he might give in the future, whereupon it is
stated that he left Suttung deceitfully robbed of _sumbl_ (_Sumbl_), and
Gunlad in tears over a lost kinsman.
The expression that Suttung was deceitfully robbed of _sumbl_, to be
intelligible, requires no other interpretation than the one which lies
near at hand, that Suttung was treacherously deprived of the mead. But
as the skald might have designated the drink lost by Suttung in a more
definite manner than with the word _sumbl_, and as he still chose this
word, which to his hearers, familiar with the mythology, must have
called to mind the personal _Sumbl_ (_Ölvaldi Svigdir_), it is not only
possible, but, as it seems to me, even probable, that he purposely chose
an ambiguous word, and wanted thereby to refer at the same time to the
deceitfully captured mead, and to the intended son-in-law deceitfully
lost; and this seems to me to be corroborated by the juxtaposition of
Suttung's and Gunlad's loss. The common noun _sumbl's_ double meaning
as mead and "drink-feast" has also led M. B. Richert (page 14 in his
treatise mentioned above) to assume that "the expression was purposely
chosen in such a manner that the meaning should not be entirely limited
and definite," and he adds: "A similar indefiniteness of statement,
which may give rise to ambiguity and play of words, is frequently found
in the old songs." Meanwhile, I do not include this probability in my
evidence, and do not present it as the basis of any conclusions.
The name Suttung shows in its very form that it is a patronymic, and
although we can furnish no linguistic evidence that the original form was
_Surtungr_ and characterised its possessor as son of _Surtr_, still there
are other facts which prove that such was actually the case. The very
circumstance that the skaldic drink which came into Suttung's possession
is paraphrased with the expression _sylgr Surts ættar_, "the drink of
Surt's race" (Fornmanna, iii. 3), points that way and the question is
settled completely by the half-strophe quoted in the Younger Edda (i.
242), and composed by Eyvind Skaldaspiller, where the skaldic potion is
called--
hinn er Surts
or sökkdölum
farmagnudr
fljugandi bar.
("the drink, which Odin flying bore from Surt's deep dales").
When Odin had come safely out of Fjalar-Suttung's deep rocky halls,
and, on eagle-pinions, was flying with the precious mead to Asgard, it
was accordingly that deep, in which _Surtr_ dwells, which he left below
him, and the giant race who had been drinking the mead before that time,
while it was still in Suttung's possession, was Surt's race. From this it
follows that "the ancient giant," whom Odin visited for the purpose of
robbing his circle of kinsmen of the skaldic mead, is none other than
that being so well known in the mythology, _Surtr_, and that _Surtr_ is
identical with _Durinn_ (_Durnir_), and _Sökkmimir_.
This also explains the epithet _Sökkmimir_, "the Mimer of the deep."
_Sökk-_ in _Sökk-Mimir_ refers to _Sökk_ in _Sökkdalir_, Surt's domain,
and that Surt could be associated with Mimer is, from the standpoint of
Old Norse poetics, perfectly justifiable from the fact that he appears in
time's morning as a co-worker with Mimer, and operating with him as one
of the forces of creation in the service of the oldest high-holy powers
(see No. 53). Consequently Mimer and Sokmimer (_Surtr-Durinn_) created
the clans of artists.
_Surtr_, _Durinn_, _Durnir_, _Sökkmimir_, are, therefore, synonyms, and
designate the same person. He has a son who is designated by the synonyms
_Suttungr_, _Fjalarr_, _Mjödvitnir_ (_Midvitnir_). Suttung has a son
slain by Odin, when the latter robs him of the mead of inspiration, and
a daughter, Gunlad. The giant maid, deceived and deplored by Odin, is
consequently the daughter of Surt's son.
Light is thus shed on the myth concerning the giant who reappears in
Ragnarok, and there wields the sword which fells Frey and hurls the
flames which consume the world. It is found to be connected with the myth
concerning the oldest events of mythology. In time's morning we find the
fire-being Surt--the representative of subterranean fire--as a creative
force by the side of Mimer, who is a friend of the gods, and whose
kinsman he must be as a descendant of Ymer. Both work together in peace
for similar purposes and under the direction of the gods (Völuspa, 9,
10). But then something occurs which interrupts the amicable relations.
Mimer and Surt no longer work together. The fountain of creative force,
the mead of wisdom and inspiration, is in the exclusive possession of
Mimer, and he and Urd are together the ruling powers in the lower world.
The fire-giant, the primeval artist, is then with his race relegated to
the "deep dales," situated to the southward (Völuspa, 52), difficult of
access, and dangerous for the gods to visit, and presumably conceived
as located deeper down than the lower world governed by Mimer and Urd.
That he tried to get possession of a part of "_Odrærir_" follows from the
position he afterwards occupies in the myth concerning the mead. When
daylight again falls on him from the mythic fragments extant, his son has
captured and is in possession of a supply of mead, which must originally
have come from Mimer's fountain, and been chiefly composed of its liquid,
for it is skaldic mead, it too, and can also be designated as _Ódrærir_
(Havamál, 107), while the son is called "the mead-wolf," the one who
has robbed and conceals the precious drink. Odin captures his mead by
cunning, the grandson of the fire-giant is slain, the devoted love of the
son's daughter is betrayed, and the husband selected for her is deceived
and removed. All this, though done for purposes to benefit gods and men,
demands and receives in the mythology its terrible retribution. It is a
trait peculiar to the whole Teutonic mythology that evil deeds, with a
good purpose, even when the object is attained, produce evil results,
which develop and finally smother the fruits of the good purpose. Thus
Surt has a reason for appearing in Ragnarok as the annihilator of the
world of the Asas, when the latter is to make room for a realm of
justice. The flames of revenge are hurled upon creation.
I have already above (No. 87), had occasion to speak of the choicest
sword of mythology, the one which Volund smithied and Mimer captured,
and which was fetched from the lower world by a hero whose name Saxo
Latinised into Hotherus. In my treatise on "the Ivalde race" it shall be
demonstrated who this Hotherus was in mythology, and that the sword was
delivered by him to Frey. Lokasenna (42; cp. Gylfag., 37), informs us
that the lovesick Frey gave the sword to the giant Gymer for his bride.
After coming into the hands of the giants it is preserved and watched
over until Ragnarok by _Eggther_ (an epithet meaning sword-watcher),
who in the Ironwood is the shepherd of the monster herd of Loke's
progeny, which in the last days shall harry the world and fight in
Ragnarok (Völuspa, 39-41). When Ragnarok is at hand a giant comes to this
sword-watcher in the guise of the red cock, the symbol of the destructive
fire. This giant is Fjalar (Völuspa, 41), and that the purpose of his
visit is to secure the sword follows from the fact that the best sword of
mythology is shortly afterwards in the hands of his father Surt (Völuspa,
50) when the latter comes from the south with his band (the sons of
Suttung, not of Muspel) to take part in the last conflict and destroy
with fire that part of the world that can be destroyed. Frey is slain by
the sword which was once his own.
In this manner the myth about the mead and that about the Volund sword
are knit together.